Nightwounds
by ill0gical
Summary: "It's the fifth of November." Uruha murmured, suddenly. Aoi's thumbs, flashing across the touchpad of his iPhone, froze. Reita quietly sank onto the mattress beside the brunette, fingers sliding between his locks of still-damp hair. Kai closed his eyes, a sigh escaping his lips. "Reila." Uruha breathed into the silence. "Ten years..." The blonde bassist whispered. Ruki x Reila.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** _Hello readers, and welcome to this, my side-project away from my original fic. This is something different from what I usually write. It's likely to get pretty sensitive. If you are easily triggered, I implore you not to read this fic. I don't want you to hurt yourself over something I have written. Otherwise, please read and review! I hope you enjoy. c:  
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Title: **_Nightwounds._**  
Chapters: **_Prologue - ?  
_**Pairing: **_Ruki x Reila (GazettE inspired)_**  
Author: **_ill0gical/skeletalskylines_**  
Warnings: **_Language; suggestive themes; eventual character death; triggers._**  
Disclaimer: **_I do not own any of the people or characters in this fic. Only the plot is my own._

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_Remember, remember the fifth of November._

Ruki really didn't like the rain. He made sure that everybody knew about it too, as he posted a Tweet describing just how he felt about the gloomy skies overhead and the fat, glistening raindrops that slid down the window pane, marring the city skyline that could be seen from their towering hotel room.

Behind him, he could hear Reita and Kai debating something trivial while Aoi and Uruha smirked and muttered comments to one another about said debate. At least their moods were somewhat brighter than the little vocalist's.

"Oi, Ruki, chicken or barbecue?" The blonde bassist called. Ruki shot a questioning glance over his shoulder. Ah, the monthly noodle debate.

"Chicken." He answered, tone blunt, before he turned to glare out of the window once more. They should have known by now. They shouldn't have had to ask. He heard Kai sigh as he gave up for the nth time this year and the small, victorious 'woop' from Reita.

Something brushed his shoulder lightly at that minute, and Ruki was forced to whirl around at the sudden contact. When he looked up, he realised that it had been Uruha who had disturbed him from his angsting. He raised a thin, dark eyebrow at the taller guitarist.

"What's the matter with you?" Uruha asked, his soft tone not quite fitting his deep voice. But then again, what part of Uruha did fit his deep voice exactly?

"Rain." Ruki responded, turning away. "It puts me in a bad mood."

"Why?" The guitarist asked quietly, leaning against the window-ledge with ease and looking out at the vast urban sprawl of the monster city. He couldn't imagine that it was the greyness that dulled the vocalist's spirits and he wasn't exactly outside in it.

Ruki just gave his older friend a blank look, thin lines of black from last night's makeup filling the slight creases underneath his tired eyes. But there, in the usually warm stare of his long-time friend, Uruha noticed a sadness. It wasn't like when he got emotional on stage or in recording, it was like some terrible ghost had placed itself behind the golden irises and left the small man speechless.

And then, out of nowhere and as quick as a shot, Ruki was out of the door and down the hall. Kai raised a brow at the tall guitarist, concerned. "Is he okay?"

"I just don't think Ru-kun wanted to play with Uruha." Aoi smirked, tone teasing.

Ignoring this comment, the guitarist shrugged, "He said... The rain puts him in a bad mood."

"Aa," Reita nodded. "He hates it."

"He just tweeted about how much he hates it, actually." Aoi grinned, eyes cast down upon his phone screen.

Kai smiled, "Do you ever get off of Twitter?"

"But why would I do that when I have so much to say~?" The guitarist sang, leaning back into the mattress and, Kai supposed, tweeting the conversation that they'd just had.

"What's the date?" The drummer asked after a pause. "Someone, tell me."

"It's the fifth of November." Uruha murmured.

Aoi's thumbs, flashing across the touchpad of his iPhone, froze. Reita quietly sank into the mattress beside the brunette, fingers sliding between his locks of still-damp hair. Kai closed his eyes, a sigh escaping his lips.

"Reila." Uruha breathed into the silence.

"Ten years..." The blonde bassist whispered.

"Shit." Aoi muttered, sitting up.

Kai stood from his sitting position on the mahogany desk against the wall. "I'm going to find Ruki."

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**A/N:** _Thank you for reading; please review!_


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N:  
****Disclaimer:** _I do not own the characters in this story; the plot, however, is my own._

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Midwinter was Ruki's favourite season: the darkness, the silence, the cold, the way that everybody huddled together and rushed with ruddy cheeks to get out of the icy weather – it inspired him. It was something he adored.

He had left Kai's house in the early hours of the morning with a slightly woozy head. The drummer had insisted he and the others stay over after a night out so that they could all get to the studio the next morning for multiple consultations regarding a new album. He was excited, Ruki knew. The band had had the best of luck lately and they'd finally landed themselves with a record deal and a studio album opportunity. Slowly, Gazette's name had become known all over Tokyo and the surrounding cities. Slowly, they were drawing nearer to their goal.

Their night out had been a celebration – Uruha had suggested it, of course, the damn alcoholic – for the beginnings of their band getting serious about what they did. But the guitarist had faceplanted the bar shortly after ordering a round of shots for the five of them and they'd had to return early to try and sober him up.

Everyone had fallen asleep now. It was five, and the sun still hadn't risen above the horizon. Not that Ruki would have seen behind the building blocks that made up the monster city. Early morning traffic rushes were already beginning to pile up and, even though the snow had fallen freshly in the earlier hours of the morning, Ruki could see under the amber glow of the streetlights that walking along the pavement was going to be a chore of wading through slush and mud and soot. Troublesome.

He could have just turned around and returned to the drummer's house, but he didn't. He felt like this might be a worthwhile stroll and that the quietness of the park might ease his nervous state. What was he nervous about, though? The recording of the band's first album? The response? The path his life would take from today onwards? He'd discussed this with Aoi a few hours earlier when the guitarist had sensed his friend's unease.

"You can't see the future, that's why it's so frightening." The dark haired male had murmured behind a cup of hot tea, his dark eyes, lined sharply with a kohl pencil, pierced into the younger's soft golden ones. "Just like ghosts and demons, we can't see them, but we're still scared of them. Am I right?"

"Aa." Ruki had answered shortly.

"We can't see them, but we're afraid – because someone told us stories about them. The future – life in general – it's all planned out, don't you think?"

"You're born. You go to school. You get a job. You get married. Have a family. Grow old. Die." The younger answered, his tone dull. He didn't think Aoi was very good at lifting his spirits. Even half drunk.

"That's the guidelines we follow for the future. Don't you worry about a thing. It's all planned out."

"Because _every little thing is gonna be alright_." Uruha hummed from his awkward position, splayed across the living room floor with a bottle in his hand. Kai quickly confiscated it.

Ruki smirked a little at the memory. At least he wasn't the only one with doubts. Aoi's attempt at being positive had told him that he too was a little nervous should the band fail. It was a good thing that they had Kai now. Asserting himself as leader, the drummer had taken on a wonderful role of half managing the other four and half managing everything else. It seemed that he knew what he was doing, so… maybe there was no need to worry.

As he reached the tall wall that opened into the great expanse of grass and concrete and trees and water features, the clamour of the rousing city disappeared. It had begun to snow again. Ruki hadn't even noticed. He glanced up at the sky. It was clear, so the small flakes that fell across the recreational grounds must have come from the tops of the trees being moved by the faint breeze.

He walked for a while along the snow coated path, watching his step over suspicious-looking areas of ice and allowing the scenery to fill and ease his still wavering mentality. The cool air distracted him mostly. A few early morning wanderers passed him offering awkward smiles as if to say 'good morning'. Ruki revelled in it. He was often recognized when he went out in public, so the early wander was quite relaxing since nobody seemed to want to scream or wander up to him and ask slyly for tickets to a gig.

Ruki dropped down into a bench, overwhelmed by the thoughts that flooded his mind at that. What if the band succeeded? Then what? Would it be like all of those poor celebrities photographed at every moment of their life? Would he _ever _get these moments of peace and quiet? No, that was thinking selfishly. He had to focus on everything and everyone. If anyone came up to him in the street and asked to have a photo taken, he would comply. He would be friendly and good to everyone who supported him and the rest of the band. He would try his absolute hardest to please everyone. No more of these self-absorbed thoughts.

A slight jolt somewhere along the bench told Ruki that he was no longer alone. Someone had seated themselves beside him, not too close, but not entirely on the other end of it. He could see their shoes out of his peripheral vision. Small black, suede ankle boots and skin-tight denim jeans – ah, so it was a female that had joined him.

Without thinking, he shot the girl a sidelong glance. She looked exhausted: soft purple rings surrounded her eyes mixed with slight specks of black where her makeup had ridden down with either sweat or tears. She looked older than him, but only by a year. He was suddenly forced to flinch slightly when her icy blue eyes shot across to meet with his. He'd been caught staring. _Awkward_. His gaze instantly flickered to the footprints in the snow on the path in front of them.

"Can't sleep?" A soft, quiet voice asked after a moment. Ruki turned slightly, realizing that she was smiling gently at him. She hadn't been alarmed by him silently watching her.

Cautiously, he shook his head. "No," He answered, voice just as quiet. It was as if they didn't want to disturb the thick, beautiful silence that the wintery snowfall had brought as it muffled the noisiness of the city. "You?" He questioned after a beat of silence.

She smiled bitterly, pulling her white jacket tightly around herself, "Not in this city." She responded. The male gave her a quizzical look, his golden eyes meeting her cold blue ones for the second time. Only now, they didn't look so cold. "I just moved to Tokyo," She told him. "I dreamed about coming here since I was little, but… it doesn't seem to be treating me well."

Ruki's lips twitched into a sympathetic pout momentarily, "Tokyo is… a little scary." He admitted, "I've lived here all my life and it still has its unpleasant shocks every now and then. But," He added, hoping that his tone had become somewhat positive, "I think every big city in the world is the same way."

The girl nodded, combing her fingers through her blonde hair almost shyly, "That's true," she murmured, "nowhere is perfect."

Ruki nodded, impressed with how well this conversation was going despite its serious tone, "You're working and everything, though, right?" He asked, "You have a place to live?"

"Of course," The girl smiled, "well, I'm balancing two jobs at the moment which isn't ideal. One at a restaurant and one at a…" she trailed off, frowning. Uh oh. She raised a thin, dark eyebrow at him. "Hey." She said suddenly, "You're not one of those creepy scouts that pimp girls out, are you?"

Ruki froze completely, except for his mouth which dropped open in shock. "N-no!" He answered quickly, "I'm… I'm in a band. I don't— _no_." He explained quickly, shaking his head and flailing his hands. "I was just curious!" He told her, apologizing repeatedly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

The girl giggled, her laughter echoing like a wind-chime into the crisp, winter air. Ruki sighed, shaking his head. "I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed through her remaining chuckles, "It's just that—" She took a second to compose herself, "—my older sister, she warned me to be careful of some of the men in Tokyo. It completely slipped my mind until that moment."

"Hn," Ruki grinned, the relaxed mood beginning to swirl back around them, "Well, I apologize for making you feel uneasy, ano…"

"Reila." She dipped her head politely.

"…Reila-san." He finished with a small chuckle, "It was not my intention."

"No, no," Reila shook her head, "I must apologize for being so cruel! Please forgive me." She grinned. "I'm sorry, what was your name?"

"Er—" He began. Everyone he knew called him Ruki. It wouldn't hurt to use his stage name, would it? It was unlikely he'd meet the girl again, so…

"Er? You forgot your own name?" She teased.

Ruki placed his face in his hands. This girl wasn't as gentle as he'd thought she was. He glanced back up at her, grinning, "I had a mind-blank! You're making me nervous." He joked. When he saw how she instantly composed her expression, straightening her posture and covering her mouth with her hand for a moment, he smiled softly, "Ruki." He told her, "I'm Ruki."

She held out her hand and, after a moment of deliberation, Ruki took it, shaking it unsurely. She then sat back as she had when he had first dropped down beside her, tilting her head and taking in the scenery whilst hugging herself to keep warm.

The sky was starting to change from its pinky-blue colour to a gentle cerulean. Tracks from aeroplanes in the sky left lean, white trails frozen in the frozen atmosphere above. The early morning sunshine caused the snow on the ground to sparkle and glitter. It made the auburn haired male feel at ease, _finally_. Everything was so quiet and calm and unmoving, unlike where his home was in the city centre. It felt like nothing ever stopped moving there.

"You're in a band?" The girl asked politely. Ruki knew that she meant for him to tell her more, but he was reluctant. Would the girl think differently of him as so many others did? "Like, a rock band?" She hinted when he didn't respond.

"Yes," He murmured, "we're recording an album at the moment. Actually, I have to be at the studio in a couple of hours. If I'm not, Kai will kill me." He muttered, more to himself than to her.

"Kai?" She questioned eagerly, "Is he your manager?"

"Ano… no. He's my drummer." After a pause, he vaguely continued. He was unsure why he even felt the need to, but the bright mood of this girl after their awkward discussion was just pushing the words out of him. "Kai on drums," Ruki mumbled, "Reita on bass, Aoi and Uruha on rhythm and lead guitar and me, the vocalist."

Reila sighed happily, "Oh, how wonderful. I always wanted to be in a band when I was younger."

"Along with the dream of moving to Tokyo?" Ruki grinned.

"Hai! That was the pipedream of this little girl." She nodded, smiling.

The boy had noticed the way her face had lit up. She was pretty, even with her hair a strangely tangled blonde mess at the top of her head. Her eyes were crystal-like blue, almost mirroring the morning sky, and even with her smudged makeup, she appeared to care for her appearance. He noted this by her manicured nails and her flawlessly white jacket with its fluffy hood.

She glanced at her watch, a small gold band around her wrist, "Oh no," She sighed, "I have to get to work." Ruki raised an eyebrow, "Coffee shops start early." She expounded. The male nodded, inwardly a little disappointed that she'd be going.

She hopped to her feet, brushing herself down with her hands and then gave him an awkward nod of the head. "I guess I'll see you around." She said sweetly, flicking her fingers up and down against her palm and turning away. Ruki watched as she tucked her hands into her pockets and listened to the way her feet hit the snow and ice, crunching repetitively and slowly fading away.

Well… that had been an interesting encounter. It wasn't often that he met with people who were open and willing to have a conversation, let alone a straight-forward one – that was definitely a rarity.

It would only be a week before he met the girl again.

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**A/N:**_Thank you for reading! Please review~_


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N:  
****Disclaimer:** _I do not own the characters in this story; the plot, however, is mine._

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"I'm sorry," Ruki muttered to Reita as the two left the conference room with their arms folded over slim clipboards, "but these meetings are getting _tedious. _I thought we'd be straight into the actual recording by now."

The blonde ruffled his smaller friend's hair, "I'm sure we'll be starting it all soon." He grinned, nose hidden underneath a thin strip of linen patterned in the classical bandanna style. "You're just too anxious."

The auburn haired male shrugged, "Perhaps."

He definitely was. The idea of the album production had excited Ruki even with his doubts, but a week after nothing but consultations had left him somewhat disappointed. He rarely complained, but the thought was nudging at his musings, the constant wondering when he and the other four would finally be able to show the rest of the country what they had.

Kai marched past the pair of them, giving Ruki a somewhat sympathetic slap on the back, "Soon." He told him. Apparently the drummer was also growing weary of the numerous desk meetings and interviews and contracts and… everything.

"Hah." Reita grinned, "Leader knows everything – so you know that's a legitimate 'soon'. We're all pretty excited too, you know. Get some restraint, vo-ca-list!" The bassist teased. Ruki rolled his eyes, sulking slightly.

Aoi was waiting for the two of them with Uruha at the end of the long, purple carpeted hallway. The dark haired male tapped his foot impatiently as they neared. "Aoi's edgy." Uruha warned, swaying slightly. It looked like someone had made an interesting use out of the bar.

"Uruha's drunk." Aoi bit back, an eyebrow twitching as he glared at the brunette who simply wrinkled his nose and shook his head. Denial. Ruki couldn't help but smirk.

The bassist sighed heavily, reaching into his pocket and slamming a packet of Marlboro menthol lights into the dark haired guitarist's open palm. "Relax." He told him sternly. Aoi just grinned a thank-you. The blonde now turned to Uruha, "You. Coffee. Now." He said, spinning the tall guitarist by his shoulders and marching him out of the building. Aoi followed, pausing only to allow Ruki to light up his own cigarette from the blue clipper in his hand before continuing on his way to the coffee shop a few streets down from the studio.

The small vocalist was temporarily left by himself, but after a moment he decided to shoot after the other three. A coffee wouldn't hurt, and after being locked into stuffy conference rooms all day, he had no objection to a short walk and a half decent cappuccino. He was silent as he fell in step with Aoi, the two just enjoying each other's company whilst they listened to Reita scold the lead guitarist.

"It's not even past twelve and you're stumbling across the pavement like some graceless ogre. Who do you think you are?"

"Hn, hn, don't you _know_ who I think I am?"

"Baka!" A short clunk followed by a small whine told Ruki more than he needed to know involving what the fate of the brunette had become. Rubbing his softly spiked hair, Uruha tumbled into the coffee shop ahead of the blonde bassist who pushed him, Aoi dropped and crushed the remainder of his cigarette on the concrete pavement with his sneaker clad foot whilst the small vocalist trailed in quietly by himself having tossed the cigarette barely three minutes after lighting it.

The smell of the small café was the type to give Ruki a headache almost immediately. Coffee beans, hot water. The tinkling of the numerous instruments in the preparation area filled his ears quickly as a few exiting customers passed him and the others. He smiled a rather rare smile at an old couple to reassure them that, although he might have currently looked like an asylum escapee and was standing beside a rather vulgar-when-tipsy Uruha, he was most definitely not about to kill them, or cause a riot. Or both.

"I'll be with you in a moment." The girl at the coffee bar called to Aoi and Ruki as Uruha slurred his order beside an impatient Reita. The auburn haired male glanced up, recognizing the voice but not seeing who the words had come from behind his taller friend's heads. Being his height _really was_ a curse.

"What?" Aoi questioned, noticing his friend on the tips of his toes and looking curiously around their tall, brunette friend's shoulder. "What?" He repeated.

Ruki shook his head, dropping back onto the heels of his feet and biting the inside of his cheek. He thought that the voice of the coffee girl sounded familiar. That foreign lilt on her words. He was _sure _he'd heard it before, but the hubbub of the café was quietly growing louder and her words were lost between a deep chuckle from Uruha and a sigh from Aoi as the guitarist tapped his fingers on the countertop.

"Thank you very much." Reita's voice said smoothly as he and Uruha disappeared to find a booth, the blonde not trusting the brunette with anything other than himself and just hoping that the man could sober up enough to climb the stairs without tearing the building down. "Ah— Ruki, we'll be on the upper floor."

"Aa." The small vocalist nodded once to his friend. He caught the coffee girl glancing sharply at him out of the corner of his eye as he turned, waiting for her to finish with whatever it was that she was doing – cleaning, he presumed.

"R…ight." She said slowly, turning with a bright smile which quickly faded to confusion. She fixed this error automatically and glanced down at the countertop, manicured fingernails tapping lightly across it. "What can I get for you two gentlemen?" She enquired politely.

Ruki didn't answer. He was trying to place the face of the girl with someone he had met before. He knew it. He _did _know it. The heavy eyeliner with the slight flicks that made her look more tired than she was, the icy blue eyes which melted into something much less frightening, the pale skin and the blonde hair, probably bleached, pulled into a messy bun. He still didn't answer, but Aoi had taken over so he just stood quietly and nodded when the dark haired man got his order correct. Who was she? He knew her. His eyes travelled to her name badge. 'LEILA' it said in block capitals. Definitely a foreign name. But he knew it. From _somewhere…_

It frustrated him that he couldn't place where from, but never the less he waited patiently as she passed the orders onto the other girl who busied herself with the making of their coffees. "Ruki." The girl murmured as she leaned across the counter.

Ruki glanced up, "Hn?" He muttered faintly, but then he froze. She knew him. She was grinning, running a finger over her lip childishly.

"I thought that was you! I just wasn't entirely sure." She exclaimed brightly.

"Ah…" He trailed off, nodding, "yes."

"Y-you, um, don't remember me. This is awkward." The girl giggled, "I met you before." Ruki raised an incredibly thin eyebrow. "Erm, it was a while ago. This time last week, actually. At the park, _really _early in the morning?"

It clicked then. He remembered being just off the edge of sober and wandering through the small winter wonderland, exploring his way under the still falling snowflakes until his feet were numb and he had decided to take a seat on a bench. The girl across from him now was the same one that had dropped in beside him and started a conversation. Reila, she had called herself. But this one's name badge said Leila. Of course, the rule of changing English Ls to Rs. Ruki _knew _he'd seen her before. He just _knew._

"Oh!" He said, a ring on his finger clicking against the countertop as he placed his hands onto it, leaning closer to the girl. "Yes, I remember now. Reila." He greeted.

"Correct!" She smiled.

It was at this moment that Aoi decided to join in with the conversation – in the dorkiest way he knew possible. Ruki was used to it by now. "Ooooiiii!" The dark haired male whined, nudging his smaller friend. "You met a _girl?_"

"Aoi," Ruki smirked, "stop." He said, tone now serious. "Yes, I did meet a girl. This is Reila, she just moved to Tokyo. Reila, this would be Aoi."

"Just Aoi." The dark haired man muttered for himself. "Nothing special. Just Aoi."

"Ohstop it." Ruki muttered, grinning but slightly embarrassed. "I… believe I mentioned him."

"I remember." Reila nodded, bowing her head politely to Aoi who did the same. "Ah," She smiled when the two coffees appeared, "One full cappuccino, little milk, please enjoy. And one flat white, chocolate topping, full milk, please enjoy this too." She grinned. The vocalist and his taller friend nodded their appreciation with a thank you. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Let's hope." Ruki said before he could stop himself. He noticed Aoi biting back a smile out of the corner of his eye.

"Thanks again." Aoi mumbled, pushing his band mate in the direction of the stairs.

They found Uruha and Reita in silence. The auburn haired nineteen-year-old couldn't help but feel bad for Kai who hadn't been able to join them due to being stuck with the producers all day. He was honestly really glad that the drummer had taken the role of leader. The four others – well, they weren't exactly up for the job in the kind of professional way that Kai always seemed to be. For one, Uruha was a drunk. Aoi was following in his footsteps. Ruki tended to ignore the existence of time and Reita was pretty busy playing mother to the three of them most of the time. Kai really was the best man for the endless number of meetings and phone calls and talks at the moment.

"Alright, men." Aoi grinned, sliding into the booth.

"I'm trying to be sober." Uruha announced in a louder tone than Ruki expected he had meant to use. "It's not working." He whispered after a pause. Reita just gave him a look. Ruki smirked. How had he ended up with such a bunch of nutters? He didn't think he'd ever know.

"Drink your coffee and keep quiet." The blonde bassist muttered after a moment. He shook his head and turned to Ruki who, stupidly, had forgotten to put his smirk away and was now stirring a sachet of sugar into his cappuccino, a softer smile still in place. "Ooh, your mood's picked up." He commented lightly.

The vocalist nodded. "I suppose. The fresh air helped."

"Aa…" Reita trailed off, glancing to Aoi who was still fighting a smile. "What?" He questioned suddenly, "What is it?"

"There's a girl downstairs." Aoi grinned, shooting a look at Ruki to make sure he was okay with it. To tell the truth, Ruki wasn't really bothered with what the guitarist thought. "A very pretty foreign girl."

"The coffee barista?"

"Hai," The dark haired man replied, "and she and Ruki _know _each other, apparently."

The auburn haired teen had to stop his friend there. "Hold on, hold on," He began, "it's not like _that_."

"Like what, Ru-kun?" Uruha teased from his corner.

"Oi," Reita warned the brunette who placed his head back on his arms, giggling to himself. "Like what, Ru-kun?" He repeated, grinning.

Fighting a small laugh, Ruki waved a hand, "Well— he was using a suggestive tone so… yeah… like _that_ I suppose." He shook his head, "Anyway, last week I took a walk before we came to the studio while everybody was asleep at Kai's place. She, er, started talking to me. I hadn't even thought about her until I heard someone speaking the way she did just downstairs to Uruha and you." He shrugged. "You noticed her Japanese isn't…" He trailed off, not wanting to be insulting.

"Aa." Reita nodded, placing his chin on the top of his fingers. "I did notice, yes."

"So I thought it might be someone I had spoken to before." Ruki continued, "but I wasn't sure." Again, he shrugged. "Nice to bump into someone every now and then.

There was a short silence between the group. Reita was the one to break it. "Wow." He said, bluntly. Ruki knew that he meant it in a more interested way, sometimes that was just how things came out with the bassist. Either way, it made the group laugh and talk of the coffee girl was soon forgotten.

That was, of course, until they left. Ruki's golden eyes locked momentarily with the barista as she waved quickly, fingers flicking up and down against her palm as they had before. He just nodded, too lazy to wave.

The girl with the faded eye makeup and the manicured fingernails stayed in his head for the rest of the day. Reila. The girl with the small wave and the twisted mess of a bun atop her head. Reila. Leila. Reila. He wondered if he would see her again, leaving the decision in fate's hands as to whether or not that would happen.

"Yo, Ruki," Kai snapped his fingers in front of the smaller male's face that evening. Ruki glanced up, a single eyebrow raised, questioning. "Let's make some music!" He grinned.

The smallest smile broke out across Ruki's face.

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**A/N: **_Thank you for reading! Please leave me a response in the reviews. c:_


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N:  
****Disclaimer: **_I do not own the characters in this story. The plot, however, belongs to me. c:_

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It was a quarter of the way into the making of the band's album when the first wave of bad luck hit the group. Ruki's vocal chords seized up for a short while. He sat atop the white bed of the hospital, feet swinging slightly off the edge as he gave Kai a blank stare. The drummer returned it, his arms folded across his black T-shirt and finger and thumb stroking the tip of his chin nervously, awaiting the doctor's announcement.

"Well, there's a slight inflammation at the back of your throat. We can assume that you've strained a chord in there somewhere. Is it painful?"

Ruki nodded, a whisper of a 'yes' coming out in response.

"Don't try to talk." Kai smirked. "Idiot."

The vocalist resisted the urge to flip his friend off and instead continued to death-glare him. Hn, how did the doctor expect an answer if he was being told not to speak? That confused the auburn-headed teen.

"Well, Matsumoto-san, all I can really recommend for you is a prescription to this," He held out a thumb-sized bottle which Ruki took to examine curiously. "It will bring down the swelling in your throat quite a bit. Also, as your friend suggested, silence will help and if you could try to rest as much as possible, that will definitely restore you back to your old self quickly."

"Ano," Kai mumbled, "how long would you say this could take?"

"It could be a week, it could be several. Not _too _long." The doctor smiled, pushing the pair of spectacles further up his aging, crooked nose. Ruki frowned. He didn't like being quiet unless he was in a low mood. "That's all I can suggest for you, sir. I'm sorry that I couldn't help you further, but if you have any concerns, please come and discuss them with me. Er, perhaps not _you_, Matsumoto-san. But if Uke-san would like to come with," He looked at Kai, "you are welcome."

"Thank you."

"Thank—" Ruki began, but winced as his throat burned with trying to force the short phrase out and gave up, simply giving a smile and hopping off of the bed and making a quick exit. He didn't like hospitals. Nobody did, but Ruki especially hated them. There was something about them, something that made him feel nervous and skittish, like some kind of animal. He wanted to spend as little time in them as possible… if that was possible.

The auburn headed teen made a sub-conscious decision to take better care of himself. As soon as he got home, he threw himself into the leopard patterned sheets of his bed and went straight to sleep. It was early, but the achy burn in the back of his throat and the thick stench of antibacterial cleaners from the hospital had given him a headache. He didn't even think about Kai in the kitchen concocting something halfway edible for him before his head hit the pillow.

* * *

"Oi." Kai grumbled as he marched into Ruki's bedroom. He hadn't knocked, just walked straight in. Because that was just the way he rolled. "Wake up."

"No." Ruki said into his pillow, voice barely more than a whisper. After a short moment of diving into the softness of his bed, he paused, sniffing the air. "Oh, egh," He coughed slightly, "what _is _that?"

Kai frowned at his younger friend. "Hey." He grumbled, "I made you chicken noodle soup, that's no grateful way to behave." The small vocalist sat up as his drummer slid onto the bed by his feet. "Here." The elder murmured as he passed the small bowl to his friend, loosely throwing a set of chopsticks in his direction. "Now, I know you're grumpy because you don't like being sick, but think of it this way: the more you obey the orders that the doctor gave you…"

"Obey…" Ruki echoed quietly, eyebrows raised. Kai rolled his eyes.

"The more you follow the doctor's advice…"

"Better."

"The quicker you'll get well. So essentially, what I'm saying is… stop being cheeky and eat your soup." The drummer's hand shot out and ruffled the hair of the smaller male. "I'm heading off. Take care. I'll try and come over tomorrow or, well, maybe the next day… or maybe never. I'm still deciding."

Ruki smiled at his friend, "Thanks…" he said, genuinely. Kai had a way of cheering anybody he spoke to up. It was something that the entire band valued, especially Ruki.

Recently, he had experienced a lot of problems with his parents. His mother and father had always been strict, pulling him out of regular elementary schools and sending him to privates in the hopes that he would be a little more controlled. Ruki… wasn't tamed. In fact, he was sure he acted a lot worse at his private school than he had at the public schools he'd attended. He didn't get into fights, but he did have a tendency to skip classes that he disliked and speak out of turn to teachers.

He was a bright pupil, but he neglected this all through school only focussing, really, on his Japanese and English lessons. Sometimes he'd enjoy art, other times not. He didn't believe that art was something to be schooled and judged by grades. He thought it was an expressive thing. Expressive… just like the bands he'd joined. Just the sort of thing his father disliked the most.

He'd left home almost four years ago, when he'd decided that he had had enough of his parents' compulsive mannerisms and medieval way of life. There hadn't been an argument. There hadn't been words. Ruki had just been sent home from school. He'd skipped a class with a small group of friends, they'd been found out and individually cautioned. This was the usual procedure, however, Ruki had already hit the limit on his cautions list. He was suspended from classes for the rest of the week, not that he minded.

His mother, on the other hand, gave him a sharp clip around the ear just as they got into the car. "Idiot." She spat.

Ruki didn't say a word. He just chewed on the inside of his lip until they arrived home. He passed his father without a word despite the barrage of verbal abuse being hurled in his general direction. He whipped his black school blazer off in his room and grabbed his gym bag, a Nike duffel. Quietly, casually, he placed his belongings, along with a few personal possessions and necessities for looking after one's self. He made his bed neatly and phoned his older brother, away at university.

"I'm leaving." He had said simply when he answered.

"_Aa,"_ Ruki's brother sighed heavily. He'd heard the same thing for several years. _"I see."_

After a pause, the words just slipped from between his lips, bordering on breaking with each syllable. His brother hadn't been the closest person to him, but now all he wanted was some sort of unconditional reassurance that he _had _had some sort of a family at one point. "I just can't live in this kind of atmosphere anymore, you know, nii-san? I just…"

The deep, smooth voice of his brother cut him off before he could take a breath to arrange his thoughts. _"I understand, Takanori. You go. Do what you want, that is the only way you'll ever be happy."_

That was all it took for Ruki to feel calm again. "…Yes." He agreed, "Thank you."

"_Take care."_

"Hai."

When Ruki opened his bedroom door, his mother was standing there with her hand clasped over her mouth and tears in her eyes. The teen, his hair coloured black due to school regulation, marched past her. He didn't speak a single word to her, although he did feel her eyes on his back as he made for the front door.

"Where do you think you're going? Takanori? _Takanori!_"

He closed it without the slightest thud. That was just how he was. Reserved, quiet. He did things his own way and didn't cause much of a fuss. If he were to get into trouble, he would try to talk his way out of it, tongue sharp and poised to insult the moment a teacher or one of his parents would begin a lecture. He didn't need to promote any form of violence through himself. As far as Ruki was concerned, all that was needed in an argument was an argument.

He was welcomed into the home of his friend, Suzuki Akira, when he left his parent's house. Akira's mother adored him and doted upon him for being so bold and leaving home and school so young. Into the first week of Ruki living with Reita, he was bluntly disowned by his father over the phone.

"_Takanori, what the hell do you think you're playing at?"_

"Ah, father, I am playing the game of life."

"_You might think you're funny now, but believe me, boy, you won't find yourself so thrilling once you're cast to the side of the pile and left to rot."_

"Hey! I'm no vegetable…" A slight snicker escaped from the figure beside him.

"_Oi!"_ His father roared down the line. Ruki, Reita, and the bassist's mother all sat around the phone, grinning awkwardly at one another. _"That's enough! You disrespect your teachers by misbehaving constantly in school: you don't work, you skip classes, you spit insults at any member of staff trying to help you. You disrespect your mother by embarrassing her and me by doing these things – and more – and you now disrespect our family by not taking my words to heart and ignoring any attempt I'm making to resolve these issues. Go and have a laugh, wear your makeup, dye your hair, play your guitar but know this, that boy with the metal covered face and the coloured hair and the guitar is no son of mine. Don't even bother coming back to this house to retrieve your things; I'll dispose of them myself."_

The line went all but silent except for a monotonous 'beep' sound explaining that the call had ended. Reita hadn't dared to look at Ruki at that moment in time, while his mother had lunged at the smaller teen and squeezed him half to death in a tight embrace. "You're welcome here as long as you need, Takachan." She smiled, kissing the side of his head and smiling at him as if he were still a little boy. He was seventeen, but she seemed to see him the same way she had when he and Reita had first become friends at their local soccer club.

"I know." Ruki grinned, hiding, or rather ignoring the fact that his hands, no, his entire body was shaking from the adrenaline that had pumped through his veins as his father had spoken those words. "Thank you."

Reita had been the only person that had known of the disownment until Kai came along. One of the many drunken nights the band had spent involved a slight emotional breakdown from the little vocalist in which everything was spluttered out to the drummer. Ruki felt better after that. He felt like he could be open with Kai – as well as the others – about absolutely everything.

As he shovelled a small string of noodles into his mouth, the warmth from that thought quickly began to evaporate. He'd realized that he still felt as though something was missing. For now, it wasn't family. He wrote them three or four times a year, actually, just to let them know that he was still alive and all the rest of it. No, something _else _was missing. Something… different. And as Ruki scoured his mind for what that something different could be, a vague image flickered in his mind's eye.

A girl with messy blonde hair and icy blue eyes.

_Reila._

_._

_._

_._

__**A/N: **_Thank you for reading; please review! c:_


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N:  
****Disclaimer:** _  
_

Ruki glared at the wall opposite his bed. It was now the second week of his throat refusing to allow anything more than a whisper past his lips, and he was bored. The early morning sunlight was just beginning to filter through the half closed blinds and make patterns against the dark walls. He had been awoken by it, and now, too lazy to roll out of bed and actually shut the blinds, he just sat up in bed with his arms folded and his eyes narrowed.

His mind was muddled with irksome thoughts the littlest things were beginning to grate on his nerves. The ticking of the clock. The rush of early morning trains zipping down their lines in the distance. The sounds of the birds singing.

God. He needed a cigarette. Or some coffee. Or both. At this thought, Ruki _did _manage to drag himself out from under the warmth of his covers, blindly grabbing the small red lighter and packet of Marlboro menthol lights from their safe place beside his pillow and stumbling out of the sliding doors and onto the balcony of his apartment where, practically hanging over the side of the black iron balustrade as he quickly lit and inhaled the burning nicotine.

Smoking probably wasn't the best idea when coupled with throat therapy later that afternoon, but right now, the vocalist wasn't too concerned. He watched the people on the ground below beginning to fill the streets, rushing with their heads down in their black suits or neat school uniforms. He wondered what they were thinking, but only briefly until something caught his eye: a tiny, rushing ball of white blonde locks among the ocean of dark hair and twinsets. Almost immediately, Ruki recognized the small girl as she stumbled through the crowds, obviously mumbling apologies as she went. Something urged him to follow her.

He had no doubt in his mind that he knew where she was going, work, most likely. He would find her there. Slowly, Ruki stubbed out the end of his cigarette and dropped it into the small bucket of sand before sauntering back into his room. He slipped into the shower, whipping his old soccer uniform off and quickly washing his hair in the delightfully warm (for once) water. Then, he was half hopping into a pair of ripped black skinny jeans and an old Guns 'N' Roses t-shirt, pulling a rather worn leather biker jacket over it and zipping it halfway up. He messed with his hair for a while, not really entirely bothered about how he ought to style it today. Instead, he just chucked a black beanie over his skull and decided that it would have to do. Fumbling now just to hide his obvious identity, he wrapped a black and white checked scarf around his throat and grabbed a pair of oversized sunglasses from his cluttered desk. He would have to tidy that when he got back, he decided.

He slipped on his trusty Converse chucks and grabbed his phone, keys and wallet before slipping quietly out of the too-big apartment he lived in by himself. It was a longer walk than Ruki would have liked to the studio, but he didn't enter the towering skyscraper. He walked down the street for another few minutes until the familiar clinking and scent of fresh coffee hit his senses. The sign on the door read 'OPEN', and so the vocalist wandered in. He hadn't realized how cold it was outside, still; the warmth of the café embraced him like a familiar friend.

"May I help you?" The barista enquired as Ruki wandered over to the counter, peering at the selection board above her head through his dark glasses. Thank goodness they were prescription, otherwise he was sure he'd be going into this blind.

"Ah, yes…" He wavered for a moment, his throat protesting horribly to the raised tone of voice, "Double Espresso please." He whispered, defeated.

"Of course." She smiled, noting down the order and repeating the bill to him. Ruki paid, glancing around the shop surreptitiously in order to find where exactly that girl with the messy bun of blonde hair had disappeared to.

The girl served him a short while later, and Ruki, ever the curious one, raised the question. "Eto, sumimasen…"

"Hai?"

"There's a girl who used to work here, her name is Reila…" Ruki trailed off, sure that the dark haired girl would understand what he was saying.

"Ah yes," The barista smiled almost knowingly, "she still works here. She's running a little late today, though, I'm sorry. Was there a problem?"

Ruki almost grinned, shaking his head, "No, no problem. I was just wondering where she was. I met her a while ago and thought I might come in to see how she was."

"Oh, well speak of the devil!" The girl beamed, peering over Ruki's shoulder as a rush of cool air filled the space behind him while someone entered. Ruki glanced behind himself momentarily, his gaze meeting with that of the blonde girl he had seen earlier, wispy blonde hair knotted into a bun atop her small head and fresh makeup done almost flawlessly, despite how tired her blue eyes looked. "Reila-san~"

Ruki smiled awkwardly, not knowing exactly what he had planned on doing once he met with her. "Yes! Good morning Mana-san! I'm so sorry that I'm late, please forgive me for leaving you all alone with the morning shift!"

"Don't worry, I understand. Just don't be late anymore, or you _will _be in trouble."

"Hai, I'm very sorry." The blonde bowed her head before shrugging her jacket off and grabbing the black apron that Mana passed to her over the counter. Ruki watched her wordlessly as she pulled the material over her body and knotted it tightly around her small waist. When she looked up, Ruki almost had to stand back. Her shockingly icy azure eyes almost competed with the garish blue of the contacts he wore for shows. "Ruki?" She raised an eyebrow, glancing at her co-worker before slowly adding, "…-san…" to the end.

"Reila," Ruki nodded, inwardly cringing at how scratchy his voice was. "I came to see if you still worked here."

"Double espresso, sir?" Mana murmured from behind the counter, sliding the hot drink across to him. Ruki thanked her, raising the back of his hand to his mouth to cough twice before taking it.

"Are you sick?" The girl with the blue eyes enquired bluntly, ignoring his sentence completely, "You sound bloody awful."

Snorting, Ruki nodded, "Aa, mild vocal cord damage." He responded, "Be nice to me." He added, almost too quietly.

"I was just wondering!" The blonde exclaimed, bowing her head in her second apology of the day, "Gomen, Ruki-san, excuse my rudeness."

Ruki waved a hand lightly, brushing off the apology as if it were nothing. He glanced around. The cafe was quiet, no busy rush of early morning customers seemed to have arrived yet. Reila was doing the same, and almost without meaning to, she blinked over at her supervisor. Mana rolled her eyes and nodded. "Ano..." The blonde suddenly mumbled, "Would you like to sit down?"

"Sure." Ruki replied quietly, sliding into one of the seats closest to the bar and placing his coffee neatly beside him, he tilted his head at the seat opposite, inviting her to sit down.

The slight scrape of chair legs and the ruffling of clothes was the only sound for a moment as the girl sat down, neatly crossing her legs and linking her fingers over her knee. "So," She smiled, gesturing to his scarf and glasses, "what are you trying to avoid, the sun or...?"

Chuckling, Ruki shook his head, "Just people." He grinned. Reila's tinkle of a giggle sounded in his ears. He was amazed at how she could turn what had been slightly uncomfortable for Ruki into a light-hearted conversation, as if they were old friends when they'd only actually met twice before. "Ano... I don't know why I came here."

"Me neither. If you're sick, your supposed to be in bed trying to get better! Not straining your voice trying to talk to me." The blonde scolded, but then reached across to touch his hand familiarly as if to silently assure him that she was joking.

Ruki glanced at his knuckles laid across the tabletop. "Well," He mumbled, "that's probably true..."

The girl opposite him shook her head, "Ah, it's alright, don't fuss now. I'm glad that you came all this way to see me." She paused, "You did come to see me, right?"

"No, who are you, why are you talking to me?" The auburn haired male drawled, tone sarcastic. Reila crinkled her nose as she got the joke. "I thought I saw you when I went outside this morning, but it must have been somebody else. I wondered if you were still living around here."

"I do, I do. I'm still in my sister's apartment, though."

"I see." Ruki nodded.

There was a small silence where the vocalist sipped from his cup at the strong black coffee and enjoyed the bitter taste on his tongue. Reila watched him, her startlingly blue eyes almost searching him. For what, Ruki was unsure. He just felt the unworded pressure of someone being desperate to know him. He'd felt it before, of course. He felt it in fans' glistening tears and seen it in interviewer's pens as they scratched his responses into their notebooks.

"Your band are working hard." Reila stated, "They're in here almost every day with papers and music sheets flying all over."

Ruki smirked, raising an eyebrow behind his shades, "They are?"

"Hai. I was beginning to wonder what had happened to _you_, actually."

"Well, now you know."

"I know that you have a throat infection and that you're outside at the crack of dawn chasing down coffee girls just to talk to them with the most wounded sounding voice _ever._" The fair-haired girl grumbled, "I'm going to be in trouble if your voice doesn't come back."

"No, no..." Ruki mumbled, hating the way she suddenly looked so concerned and how her thin fingers closed tightly over the fabric of her apron. "I wanted coffee anyway."

At this, Reila giggled, covering her mouth with the back of her hand and smiling under her mascara-coated lashes at him. "Ruki," She sighed, dropping the honorific and tilting her head at him, "I have to get back to work." She glanced over at her rather impatient looking supervisor. "Okay, I have to actually _start _work." At this, Mana nodded, her hand wrapped in the dark green cloth that she was using to dry a squeaky clean mug. Reila stood up, almost at the same time as Ruki did in understanding that he should stop holding her up, "We should see each other again." She smiled.

"Uh, yeah," Ruki mumbled, coffee in one hand while he raised the other to rub the back of his neck, "Definitely." He croaked.

"Shall we... arrange something?" The blonde questioned hopefully.

"Maybe at a time when I'm not choking on my own vocal cords?" Ruki suggested, "I'll um..."

"C-call me?" The girl put in, her confident facade faltering as she realized how their conversation must have sounded to anyone listening.

"Yeah, here," He whipped a pen out of his pocket and his notebook from the other, "just... I don't know, put down your number." Reila raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"A notebook? Really? I think you were prepared for this." The girl snickered.

Ruki rolled his eyes, "I'm a writer..."

"Aw, I was just messing with you. Here. Actually _do _call me, ne?" She smiled earnestly as she pushed the notebook and pen back into his hands.

"I shall. Ano... See you around, Reila."

"Ja ne~"

As Ruki left the coffee house, out of the corner of his eye, he smirked at the sight of an unmistakably blushing blonde and a smiley supervisor with her thumb and pinky fingers linked together teasingly. He waved, only to have Reila bury her face in her hands and hide a smile. If there was one thing he knew, it was that this strange little foreign girl and he clicked. And for the first time in two weeks, he felt content about something.

It was as he turned the corner up onto the studio's street that he bumped into Kai. The drummer apologized, flustered for a moment, until he realized exactly who he'd run into. "Ruki..." He growled, a benevolent tidal wave of scathing comments washed over the small vocalist in just his name. "What the hell are you doing out here? You're supposed to be concentrating on getting better! Not waltzing around in the cold."

"I just felt like going for a walk. I've been stuck inside my apartment for days..." Ruki murmured, hating the way his voice would crack on every other word and not just _work_. "Besides, Kai-kun, look at the sky. It's a beautiful day."

"So you're wearing sunglasses." Kai nodded, raising a finger to flick the side of the vocalist's head. Whining, Ruki backed away. "What's that you've got? Ah, coffee? From the same shop where the blonde English girl works... busted."

"Eh?" Ruki raised a brow, "Oh, no. It's not like that. I really_ did_ just want some coffee." He half-lied for the second time that day.

Kai snorted, "Right. Where are you headed to now?"

"Home, I guess." The light-haired brunette shrugged, "I've not really got anything else to do today, except for some treatment on my throat."

"So you're not busy all morning?"

"…No, why?"

"Great, you can come in and do some sound direction, then. You have _no _idea how difficult it is to record without you. I'll get you a whiteboard and pen so you don't have to talk! Boy, I was lucky running into you. It's a shame you're such a sickness-prone child, really." Kai was babbling, grabbing his shorter friends by the shoulders and steering him across the street and through the automatic doors into the great black-and-white stone lobby of the studio complex.

.

.

.

**A/N: **_Thank you very much for reading! Please don't forget to leave a review. c:_


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Sorry for the sudden delay in updates. School overwhelmed me. **  
Disclaimer: **The band aren't mine, only the plot~

The band sat in the comfort of one of their studio's meeting rooms with their lunches set down neatly in front of them. Reita, Uruha and Aoi were all taking tiny stabs at abusing Ruki while he wrote down angry responses with fuming cartoon drawings to them in the light green pen on the whiteboard that Kai had thrown to the vocalist earlier on.

"Ru-Ruki," Reita tried from behind a fit of contagious laughter, "just try saying something. Just—please. Just do it."

"Fuck you." Ruki croaked pathetically. He hadn't meant to croak. His voice just hadn't come out right. He raised the back of his hand to his mouth as he coughed slightly, ignoring the roar of amusement that came from Aoi and the bassist. Uruha pouted, "That's really not a healthy sound…"

Ruki shook his head in a silent, sad agreement. He was beginning to regret his decision to leave the safety of his apartment this morning. Not just because his bandmates were teasing him – wasn't Kai supposed to be the butt of everyone's jokes? – but because his throat was beginning to feel horribly raw again, just like it had on the day he'd been with Kai to the hospital and to get an opinion from the doctor. Concern was welling in the pit of his stomach with every word he tried to pronounce.

Kai raised his eyes from his phone screen for a moment to give the little vocalist a stern, but still somehow soft stare, "Don't push it." He warned, "If we lose your voice we lose the band. A guitar can be replaced if it's broken. Same with the bass—"

"…Although, I am rather attached to mine." Reita commented.

"Drums can be fixed if their skin breaks, but you can never replace a voice." The rhythmist continued.

Ruki nodded once while Aoi sighed loudly, "Yes, yes, yes," he grumbled, tone impatient, "we've heard it a million times."

Reaching out with one of the drumsticks sitting in his lap, Kai lightly smacked the guitarist across the wrist, "Then make sure that you stop teasing Ruki."

"Itai!" The raven hissed, cradling his lean forearm. "You crazy bastard…"

"Aw, Aoi-chan." The other guitarist cooed from across the table, snorting at the glare that was immediately shot in his direction.

"I hope you sit on something _seriously _spiky." Aoi muttered, gracelessly shovelling rice into his mouth and chewing indignantly as he turned away from the group to sulk.

"If Ruki's sick," Reita suddenly raised a hand, "why is he here today?"

"Because I found the little weasel prowling the streets of Tokyo in search of coffee… or was it coffee girls?" Kai answered, dark eyes twinkling and dimple threatening to form the familiar dent in his left cheek behind a strained back smirk. "I thought it was necessary to put a leash on him before something dangerous happened."

Ruki winced as the three string artists thundered noisily with interest - even Aoi, who had surreptitiously spun his chair back around and leant closer to listen, "Coffee girls?" Reita grinned, "It's the blonde one, isn't it? At Nico's?"

"Eh?" Uruha gasped, "The foreign girl?"

Ruki almost spluttered at this, looking helplessly at Aoi for him to create some joke to turn the conversation away from him and onto something else. The dark haired guitarist simply popped a cherry tomato into his mouth and allowed a rather blunt and muffled, "Knew it." to pass through his lips.

The vocalist hung his head and began to scribble across the white board in his lap frantically, _'Don't be ridiculous. It isn't like that. I already told you.'_

There was a short pause as the others read it before Aoi leant back, "Even if you didn't like her," He began, but then raised a finger, "which you _do_—"

"I don't!" Ruki protested feebly. Kai slapped his arm lightly with the drumstick with which he had previously assaulted Aoi. Rubbing it tenderly, Ruki gazed earnestly at his older friends. 'I don't.' He mouthed as the dark haired guitarist continued.

"She's a very sweet girl. I don't see why you're so embarrassed…"

"I am _not_…" The light-haired vocalist whined, receiving a much harder smack this time and immediately shifting his chair away from the decidedly sadistic drummer. "I've only met her three times. I can't _like_ her, Aoi." He glared.

The guitarist nodded, blacker-than-midnight eyes locked with the lighter, hazel of his younger friend's, almost as if trying to drag the information from his very mind. Ruki fingered the side of the bottle of water on the table opposite him. "Can…" He began quietly, "can we just drop it now? You'd be the first people to know if I liked someone…"

It was true. He would have gone to them before even making the decision himself that he wanted to ask anyone out. Reita was mostly useless with girls no matter how many fawned over him and had trouble wording his feelings, Aoi usually just joked about things but when he was serious he gave his opinion as fact. Kai was generally mother hen and usually attempted to warn Ruki of the dangers of females and their witchcraft, but also said often that he hoped he would be seeing Ruki juniors in the future while Uruha would eye a girl down to the littlest detail before he was certain that she was an acceptable companion. So while their advice was usually useless, he would take what little help they could give and combine it into making the decision himself. If his friends didn't like the chick, then what was the point in being with her? He was with them almost constantly.

"Someone's a bit defensive…" Reita chuckled, ignoring the glares that both Ruki and Uruha shot in his direction as he glanced down happily at his plate. "Damn, I'm out of fish!"

* * *

Later that night, when Ruki was alone again in his room with the humidifier he had been handed earlier that afternoon to help with his swollen vocal cords quietly sighing beside him as it puffed warm moisture into the air. His eyes were glued to the ceiling, searching for cracks that weren't there and thoughts of the earlier conversation with his friends filling his sleepy mind. His eyes narrowed faintly. How could they be so preposterous?

_You're alone now, Ruki. You don't have to lie to yourself. Even the littlest lies._

The blonde sat up, pulling his knees to into his chest slowly and resting his chin atop them. He _had _been the one to go and find her today after recognizing someone who must have owned the same coat as she. He may not have recognized her so well the second time they had met, but he hadn't forgotten her afterwards either. The vocalist sighed heavily. Perhaps there was some truth in the words of his bandmates. But that didn't mean he _liked _her (thankyouverymuchAoi). He'd just taken an interest in her.

His eyes caught the outline of his black notebook through the darkness; it was always close to him. Reaching out gingerly, Ruki took the small book in one hand and felt underneath the pillow for his phone with his other. He snapped the screen up and flipped through the pages of scribbled words and abandoned doodles and drawings to the last leaf he'd been working on, and there, at the top of the page in black ink were two rows of numbers that Ruki knew belonged to the girl in the coffee shop. He faltered for a moment before typing the number into his phone and hitting the call button.

It wasn't a long wait. The girl answered almost immediately with a quiet, uncertain 'moshi moshi'. "Ah, Reila." Ruki greeted softly, unknowingly clenching his jaw as he waited for her response.

A bubble of relief seemed to wash over the girl as Ruki listened to her sigh quietly, "Gosh I thought you were someone else. This is Reila. Who is speaking please?"

"It's me, it's Ruki." He replied, biting his bottom lip as he waited for her to register the name.

"Ruki, ah, hello! How are you? How's your poor throat?" She enquired, tone bubbly once more.

Slowly, he began to relax. "Ah, very good thank you, and yourself? It's taken a turn for the worse, but the doctors have given me a humidifier to try and soothe it."

"If that was you trying out a dirty joke about your room being steamy, I don't want to know."

Ruki snorted, "You caught me." He smirked, and heard her chuckle on the other line. There was a short pause before he was forced to restart. "But, um, anyway… I wanted to check if this was the right number. And it is."

"That's good, isn't it? I wrote my own phone number down correctly." The girl teased again from the other side. Ruki rolled his eyes, this woman was faster than Aoi.

"Ah, fine, fine." The blonde smirked, "I'll stop saying stupid things. Anyway, etooo…" Ruki paused, shrugged and then asked the question, "would you like to come out with me sometime, you know, for dinner or something?" He then winced, and pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead at how self-assured and cocky he must have sounded. He really hadn't thought anything through just then. He didn't even know if she was single.

"Ano," Reila paused, giggling to herself shyly before composing herself, "sure. Sure, that sounds like a great plan."

That was how it began. That's how Ruki and Reila started to see each other, through a simple phone call and a friendly question asked on a whim.

**A/N: **_once again, I apologize for the delay. Please feel free to review! It'd make me happy if you did. _


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N:**_ Exams are OVER! Thank goodness. I could cry with happiness._  
**Disclaimer:**_ The members of the GazettE do not belong to me; only the plot is mine._

* * *

Ruki watched her closely from the window as she walked blindly past him and turned the corner to reach the glass door. A waiter greeted her politely and she exchanged words with him enquiring as to whether or not a young man had arrived yet. Before the waiter was able to answer, however, she caught the vocalist's eye over his shoulder and her mouth formed a small 'o' with happy surprise to see him already waiting. A moment later, the waiter had guided her towards him. Ruki stood, only momentarily, to greet her politely and ask her to sit down with him. When she did, he took his seat once more.

"God, Ruki…" The girl murmured, "I almost thought I'd had the wrong place, this is such a beautiful restaurant."

"I know." The vocalist smirked, "I saw you walk by."

"That's embarrassing!" She whined quietly to avoid irritating other customers, Ruki just snickered.

"It's a pleasure to be able to speak with you while neither of us are in a rush, though." He commented lightly, taking in her appearance at depth while she agreed.

Her hair, usually pulled up into a loose and messy blonde knot was now needle straight and shoulder length, thin points at the end suggesting that it was stylishly layered specifically for straighter hairstyles. Around her pale neck she wore a single silver necklace with a single heart-shaped charm hanging from it. Ruki pondered about the meaning of the necklace; it was a common thing for girls with boyfriends to be wearing things like that, but he didn't dare ask yet lest the discussion should make things awkward. She was wearing a simple black tube top and a sheer blouse in the same colourless toning over the top, buttoned all the way up to the collar. Her skirt, waist high, was also black and reasonably tight fitting. The lack of colour accentuated all of the colour in her flesh, though. Her icy blue eyes, the yellowy-white tint to her blonde hair, the faint blush from the cool weather outside, the pale pink of her lips…

Ruki, realizing he had been staring, pulled his eyes away from her for a moment while she answered him. "I agree," She said, "I think it's funny that you asked me out tonight though."

"Funny?" The vocalist smirked, "How?"

"Just—the way that we saw each other by chance, and then we kept bumping into each other…"

"That's only because you decided to get a job at the coffee shop five minutes away from my company's building." Ruki retorted.

"Oh!" Reila chimed, "I'm sorry, I just make things _so _inconvenient."

"Completely inconvenient." The blonde male chuckled as the girl smiled in response. She glanced down, wringing her fingers together on top of the soft, peach coloured table cloth – and that was when Ruki noticed it.

The thin, white line of risen flesh visible on her forearm to about the middle of the way down… he didn't glance back at it once his eyes had flickered back up to her face to listen to her speak, but he knew what he'd seen. He was sure that he'd seen it. A short vision of the past tried to creep into the edges of his mind but he immediately blocked it out by turning his attention to the waitress who was approaching them.

"Cassis Orange, please." He smiled when she enquired as to what beverage he would be requesting this evening.

"The same for me, please." Reila added. Ruki grinned. Usually, he was scolded by his bandmates whenever he ordered any kind of alcohol in front of them because he didn't necessarily like it. They called a Cassis Orange a girly drink – but Ruki much preferred it over the bitter concoctions that they would all request.

"Tell me about yourself." The blonde vocalist smiled lightly across the table at the small woman once the waitress had tottered off. "You know all about my band, my tastes in drink…" He trailed off. "Tell me about yourself."

"There isn't a lot to tell." Reila began to protest shyly, but the stare that Ruki shot at her urged her to express herself further. With a roll of her eyes, she continued, "I sell overpriced coffee. I live in my sister's apartment. I like clothes… I'm just like most girls, really."

"And… what kinds of music are you into?" Ruki smirked. He was waiting for her to say pop music, but her answer somehow didn't surprise him.

"I like rock n' roll, I guess. Guns N' Roses. The Sex Pistols." She shrugged, "Call me old fashioned, they were my broody teenage years."

"Huh." Ruki nodded. "I like you already."

"You like my musical preference." The girl corrected, just as their drinks arrived.

The evening was comfortable, Ruki felt. Friendly. They chatted for what felt like the shortest few moments about themselves and their lives, Ruki telling stories about the band before they finally broke through to the surface of the music industry and Reila describing the life she lived before travelling across the globe to Japan. All too soon, it was over, and Ruki found himself outside of the restaurant with the blonde girl walking along beside him with her arms folded in an attempt to shut out the evening chill.

"Why oh why did you not bring a jacket?" The vocalist sighed, taking his own leather outwear off and gracefully flinging it over her shoulders. "There, now it's like a real date." He smirked.

"You're doing everything right." The blue eyed girl giggled, sliding her arms into the sleeves and tugging the jacket around herself tightly despite it being somewhat stiff and at least two sizes too big for her small frame. "Taking me out somewhere fancy, paying for my meal, giving me your jacket…"

Ruki raised an arm and merely rubbed the back of his neck as he laughed lightly, unsure of how to respond as they continued to walk through the neon-lit food district. "Well," The vocalist said from behind a small smile, "yeah." He finished, lamely.

He'd had a good time with her, but now he was unsure of how to behave. Should he ask her out again once they reached her apartment? What could he do? Did he _want _to go out with her again?

Somewhere in his mind, Ruki heard a little voice urging him to do it.

The apartment block which Reila lived in, shared with her older sister, wasn't the grandest sight he'd witnessed however, he realized that it was only a short distance from his own building, and as he climbed the three steps that led to the lobby, he decided that he would like to see her again.

She lived locally, she was fun, and she was pretty. To Ruki, those were three things he decided he might have an interest in. "Ne," He murmured once they slipped through into the warmth of the foyer, "I had a great time with you."

"Me too! You've really made my evening so wonderful, thank you so much, Ruki."

"Aah," Ruki smiled, ducking his head slightly, "I think we should see each other again."

"Y-you do?" The blonde beamed, "I think so too, it would be – yeah, please, let's go out again." She smiled, nodding as she folded his jacket over her arm. "A-ano, I mean, I'd love to go out with you again."

"Well – how about Saturday?" Ruki asked, suddenly aware of the tautness of his jaw as he raised the suggestion. He hated the way that he got so nervous. He knew that he didn't need to be since he and Reila had established some form of friendship long ago, before they'd even been alone together for the evening. That early morning in the snow – that had been the first time a stranger had ever talked to him as a friend, and that was the first time Ruki had counted him feeling as though they shared a bond. The nervousness, however, remained.

Reila held out his jacket to him with both hands for him to take it and tilted her head to the side slightly, "Saturday night?"

"Whenever."

"I can do Saturday night." The blonde nodded, bright smile still in place.

"I'll – I'll talk to you about it later in the week." Ruki grinned, "Thank you for your company."

"Honestly – no – thank you."

A short pause prompted Ruki to step closer to the blonde girl and hug her lightly, despite it not exactly being appropriate. She was foreign, however, and the vocalist just hoped that she wouldn't know that it was a fairly bold movement. As he moved away, he felt the soft press of lips against his cheek and he smiled shyly as they parted. "I should probably get going." He said as he raised a hand and waved it slightly, "Ja ne." He smirked.

"Yeah, see you around." She replied, watching him turn and leave the building. He threw a small smile over his shoulder once he was through the glass doors, receiving another blinding grin and a wave in response.

It wasn't until he got home that Ruki was able to stop his jaw from holding itself so tightly. The nerves left him the moment his head hit the pillow and he tumbled into an exhausted sleep. One thought crossed his mind before he really fell asleep, though. Where _had _that scar come from?

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**A/N: **_I sincerely hope you enjoyed this chapter. Welcome back! Please don't forget to drop me a review, it won't take a moment... c:_


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: **_My updates for this fic have been so infrequent. I'll slap myself, don't worry._**  
Disclaimer: **_The members of the GazettE do not belong to me; only the plot is mine._

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It was a Wednesday during the middle of the recording schedule when everyone was working their hardest and was their most motivated when Ruki decided he was bored. He glanced around the studio, filled with all matter of sound and recording equipment, as well as countless instruments and hundreds of tangled wires. His eyes captured each of his bandmates either with a set of headphones over their ears as they strummed on their guitars or tapped rhythmically across the range of drums available until a steady pattern came to mind.

He huffed, a wisp of too-bleached hair flying upwards with the force of the small gust that had followed. It turned out that their guiding producer wanted Ruki's vocal track recorded last for this song, however it turned out that despite this, the short blonde was still required to come into work each day. It was usually pointless, as all he generally was left doing was doodling in his notebook for five to ten hours. Everyone else had something to do.

"Oi," Reita's voice called to him from across the desk at which he was sitting with an energy drink in front of him, "stop looking so glum, Ruki. It doesn't suit you."

The vocalist glanced up, glaring through his bangs at his oldest friend, "I'm not being glum." He mumbled. After a short pause and an extended stare from Reita, he continued. "I'm just so bored." He sighed dramatically, inwardly chastising himself for making the complaint.

A deep chuckle escaped the bassist as he shook his head, pulling a Red Bull from the dark green plastic bag with the label of the local conbini printed across it and cracking it open, "You're not very good at sitting still, are you?" He questioned before taking a sip of the caffeine-pumped beverage.

Ruki smirked faintly, "No." He admitted.

"That was something my mom always noticed, you know. You wouldn't sit still for more than half an hour at a time. Otherwise you'd always be off and doing something. Usually distracting me." The blonde grinned at his younger friend.

Ruki smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, you were still in school. I shouldn't have been such a pain." He chuckled, "I was just so… so…" He searched for a word.

"…Bored?" Reita offered.

"Exactly that." The vocalist responded. Even the mention of the word was starting to make him feel irritated. "I need something to do." He sighed.

"You could always go and visit Coffee Girl whilst you're not needed." The bassist suggested with a wink. Ruki rolled his eyes as the blonde continued, "And when you do, you can pick me up a mocha. I love their mochas." He grinned boyishly behind the white strip of fabric that covered his nose.

Reita had taken to wearing the thing since he'd started high school. The superficial environment had meant that he'd had to suffer with some the cruel and childish taunts of his '_friends'_ there, and eventually the youngster had grown so tired of the remarks that he'd simply cut the side of a sleeve from one of his old t-shirts and tied it around his face so that it hid his nose completely.

Nobody really said anything after that. Ruki supposed that they had all gotten the message because Reita was far too gentle and much too shy in character to actually speak out against the comments that were being made about his nose. In a way, the noseband had become his signature characteristic. Ruki was almost thankful for it; it was just one more thing that made them all different and individual. It was also the one thing that had recently attracted the line of girls to the bassist's bedroom door. They were attracted to the mysterious aura that he seemed to emit as the noseless wonder of the band.

"I've already seen 'Coffee Girl' recently." Ruki smirked, tone coy. An eyebrow twitched from Reita in suspicion. "We went out last Saturday evening." He said, timing his announcement perfectly with the motion of the bassist taking another sip from the blue and silver can between his fingers and thumb and causing him to choke and sputter for a good few seconds. Ruki chuckled to himself, amused.

"You did _what_?!" The bassist managed to squawk at the vocalist.

"I asked her out for dinner and she obliged." Ruki repeated calmly, glancing quickly around to make sure that the other members were still headphone-clad and deaf to the world. Yes. "But—Reita, please don't tell the others yet."

"Why?"

"I'm seeing her again this weekend and I just… I don't want them to find a way to hunt us down or something." Ruki shrugged, "You know how Aoi can be."

A dark look crossed Reita's face as he folded his arms across his plain white t-shirt, humming in agreement. "That's true." He murmured. "Let me guess, you're telling me because I'm the only one with any sense not to do that? Because I'm you're bestest-_best_ friend?"

"…Sure." Ruki responded, tone blunt and not exactly fulfilling either of the suggestions that the other blonde had made. "And also because I don't know how you're supposed to interact with foreign girls." He admitted with a heavy sigh, "They're much more forward than Japanese girls. I don't get it."

"You want advice _from me_ about girls?" Reita snorted, "Good luck having her not run a thousand miles if you take it." He smirked. Ruki folded his arms, leaning back in his chair and awaiting a response. "Okay, well…" The bassist began, "Have you ever gone to Kyoto and seen how the geishas behave around foreign guests?"

"…Aa," Ruki nodded slowly, "louder? More jokes? Blatant sarcasm?"

"I guess, yeah." Reita nodded, "But there's obviously still that sense of grace which attracts the, let's say American, men – am I right?"

"…Yeah, I suppose you are." The vocalist nodded slowly. "But I don't see what the behaviour of a geisha has to do with Reila and I."

"You've missed the point then." Reita sighed, rolling his eyes as he sparked a cigarette and placed it between his lips, offering his pack to Ruki who gratefully took one and did the same, "Be yourself – you know, the good little stereotypical—" Ruki raised a thin, arched eyebrow. Reita froze. "Oh… right."

The younger blonde laughed, "Now, I'm hardly stereotypical, am I?"

"No…" The bassist sighed, rolling two fingers around his temple for a moment. "Okay, just be polite – you may not be stereotypical but you were certainly raised with the correct manners, right? Be polite, but make jokes and be loud and sarcastic. That girl is _always _apologising for stuff, right? It's because we don't seem to take the sarcasm she emits very well so she feels like she has to apologise. But if you just be your usual smartass self in response, she'll be comfortable. Do you get it?"

"Aa." Ruki nodded, a smile curving faintly across his lips as he inhaled the nicotine from the cigarette between his fingers, watching the smoke curl away in tiny clouds as he breathed it out in a single, steady stream. "I see where you're going. Just—make her feel comfortable, right?"

"Yeah." The blonde nodded. "But," Reita continued, "a lot of the foreign girls I have been with are definitely a lot more forward than Japanese girls are, so if you're not comfortable with something – you have to point it out. Do it nicely though. Like, 'ne, that's not what we do here…' or something."

"I get it." Ruki nodded, confidence slowly starting to grow where his limbs had been cold with nerves beforehand. "Because you wouldn't want her to make the same mistake with another Japanese who wasn't quite as understanding as you." He stated, trying to affirm Reita's previous statement.

"That's right." Reita nodded, "I think that's what I'd do… just be yourself, but more enthusiastic, I guess. And if you're uncomfortable, say something. But, Ruki, she's clearly been living here long enough to know certain boundaries and the way we do things. She works in a café, you know. The only differences between us are the fact that she has a different accent because she's lived in another country all her life."

"Aa, hai, hai, hai." Ruki nodded, taking one final drag of his cigarette before crushing it in the ashtray to the side of the two of them, "I'm still getting used to her."

"Yeah…" Reita nodded, "it's understandable that you'd be nervous about it." There was a pause in their conversation as the rhythmic sound of the drumming stopped and the two glanced up to see Kai scribbling something down with a look of extreme concentration on his face made clear by the way his brows knitted together in an almost concerned fashion. "Well, I'd better get back to work before Drummer Boy catches me leisurely chatting away to you."

"Do your best." Ruki commented with a wry smile as the bassist crushed the smouldering remains of his cigarette into the ash tray between them and marched in the direction of his equipment, loudly cracking his knuckles to alert everybody of his newfound energy.

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**A/N: **_Man, it's been a while since I've written – and it's been even longer since I've updated. I'm very sorry – I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I really want to establish relationships at this point. For now, separately with the boys and with Reila, and once I'm comfortable I feel like I'll be able to finally integrate them. So please look forward to that! Thanks for reading and please review, I would be ever so grateful._


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